


one little lie

by chadsuke



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 09:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16364891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chadsuke/pseuds/chadsuke
Summary: Here is the difference:Claudia doesn't know about the egg.Written for Raydia Week 2018.





	one little lie

The difference is this: Claudia doesn’t know about the egg.

She gasps like all the others when she follows the trail of persimmon jelly, gapes at the dragon egg that had been hidden so carefully here. “But Dad-“ she says, and she can’t stop staring. “But Dad said he destroyed it!”

The elf lets her close, because she does not threaten, does not conjure up magic to battle them, and she rests a hand on the egg. She can feel the life thrumming below the surface – can feel how powerful this being will be someday, how much she could wrest from it now if she chose to use it for magic.

But when Ezran speaks of it missing its mother, Claudia thinks of her own, buried underneath the dirt and closes her eyes.

“Dad has a plan to save the King,” she says, “But if we can stop the assassins, we should.”

It doesn’t work and they still go after him and all four of them nearabout trip over themselves to run, to get out of there with the egg. _I should tell Dad where we’re going_ , she thinks, but she doesn’t have time and she doesn’t know what to think because she thought she could trust Dad but he hadn’t told her.

Why hadn’t he told her?

They run until they can’t run anymore and both Callum and Ezran fall asleep almost immediately. She doesn’t know if it’s because she slept in this morning or if she’s generally had a better day than them or what, but she’s awake and so is the elf.

“My name’s Claudia,” she tells her, cause everyone should know each other’s names, and she sticks out her hand.

The elf very gingerly takes it, shaking for just an instant before she pulls away. “I’m Rayla.” She pauses. Hesitates. “You should go home now, before it’s too late.”

Okay, Claudia can be slow on the uptake sometimes (she knows this! It’s okay! That’s just how life is!) but she has no idea what this girl is talking about. “What do you mean?”

Rayla shrugs, picking at a strange ribbon on her wrist. “The egg given back to the queen by the princes… it means something, yeah? But if you want to go home, you can, even though you _can’t_ tell nobody.”

 _Double negative_ , she notes, but Claudia looks down at her feet and digs a little gouge in the grass with the tip of her shoe. “That was my Dad’s lab,” she says, and she doesn’t look at the elf. “He kept the egg and didn’t tell me.”

She doesn’t have to tell the elf _I don’t know if I want to go back_ because Rayla doesn’t ask anymore. She nods. “Okay.” And that’s the end of it.

\---

Ezran is the first one to talk to her once she’s finally woken up and swallowed a bottle of Hot Brown Morning Potion. “Hey, Claudia,” he asks, and she smiles down at the little prince. “You said your dad had a plan, right? What was it?”

“Oh!” She lights up, because she always loves talking about her plans, and she taps her nose eagerly. “Callum made me think of it!”

He flushes and she tells them _everything._ The snake and the souls and the switching and they all just sort of gape at her while she beams proudly.

“Dark magic,” says Rayla, and she does a strange symbol with her finger that Claudia doesn’t recognize. Some elf thing? “Even if his body is dead, he still lives?”

She grins at her because yes! She’s gotten it so well! “Yes! Exactly!”

No one else seems enthused, and she doesn’t understand. Rayla sighs. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell ya, then…” And then she shares all about _her_ ribbon.

“That seems darker than switching souls to save somebody,” Claudia says, because she’s right, isn’t she? And that just gets a glare out of the elf.

“Well, _I_ don’t really like either of them,” Ezran says. “But I like that the soul stuff saved Dad and thanks for not killing me, Rayla.”

Her purple cheeks darken, and she glances to the side. “I’m not… not really a killer,” she says softly. “Failure of an assassin.”

“Yeah, uh, that’s not really a bad thing,” Callum chimes in, and Claudia laughs.

“Let’s get going!” She stretches, arcs her back until it pops, and oh, that feels good. “We can send a message at the next town we see that we’re okay and stuff.”

“Fine,” Rayla tells her, but she gets to her feet and sticks her finger up in Claudia’s face. “But no dark magic.”

She considers the elf for a moment, before leaning forward til Rayla’s finger hits her nose. “Boop,” she says, and Rayla looks _mortally_ offended and Claudia laughs again. “Okay, no dark magic.” She’s totally lying, though. No way is she giving it up.

Still, Rayla looks mollified if absolutely confused. “Then yes,” she says. “Let’s be off.”

Oh, man, Claudia’s gonna have _fun._ She’s looking forward to an adventure.

* * *

But.

_But._

The difference is this: Callum doesn’t know he’s a mage. He doesn’t know that he can use Claudia’s Primal Stone, that he can work the magic of the elements. He doesn’t know the symbols, and he doesn’t think of the small block at the Banther Lodge. They go a different route.

The difference is this: When Amaya, Gren, and all her soldiers show at the lodge, there is no one. There is not a single person – no whisper of the princes. No nothing. Not a soul has been there since it closed down for the winter. Dread gathers in her heart.

The difference is this: No one knows the princes are alive. That Claudia yet lives – Soren buries his head in his hands and cries softly in his room because his King, his sister, and the princes are all gone, in one fell swoop and he feels sick to his stomach. Claudia is his best friend in the whole world even if she’s stupid and he doesn’t think anything will fill the gaping hole inside of him.

The difference is this: Viren is crowned King, and a mourning nation bows their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello! i... deeply love canon divergent aus, so very much, so have a taste of this one for raydia week! i'm going to try to actually keep on task and update this every day of the week, but given i have family plans on saturday the last chapter MIGHT be late. or early! we'll see.
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading! you can find me at chadsuke on tumblr.


End file.
